NEW LEASE ON LIFE FOR CHIEF MINISTER "I Am A Fighter ," He Says

The shouts of “Praise the Lord, Glory to God” by Clive Smith, a well-known religious personality, captured the mood of many on Monday this week, October 9, when Anguilla’s Chief Minister, Osbourne Fleming, 66, stepped off the aircraft at Wallblake Airport with a new lease on life, having had a successful kidney transplant.

The operation was performed at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida, on July 19 and was followed by a long period of recuperation in the United States. Accompanying him on the flight from St. Croix, where he spent a short time on his way home, were his wife Mrs. Ruby Fleming and, to the delight of the assembled welcoming crowd, the kidney donor, Ineke Williams, Mr. Fleming’s first cousin.

“This is indeed a time for celebration and thanksgiving as we give God thanks for what He has done,” said Evalie Bradley, Principal Assistant Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office, as she chaired the proceedings at the welcome ceremony. “Oh, how much we love and appreciate the donor for her selfless and unconditional love!”

The 42-year-old donor, a Dialysis Nurse at the St. Maarten Medical Centre, was presented with a floral arrangement as Mrs Bradley wished her continued good health, peace and happiness.

Methodist Minister and House of Assembly Chaplain, Reverend Joseph Lloyd, led the crowd of Government officials and members of the public in prayer. “All praise and glory be ascribed to You, O God, for your goodness and loving tenderness to us expressed in manifold ways,” he started off.

Chief Minister Fleming, struggling to control his emotions, spoke of his ordeal over the past 15 or 16 months. “I am a fighter,” he said to the cheers of the large gathering. “I believe I am a fighter because when I realised that dialysis would not heal me, I decided that I must get a kidney.”

He was grateful for the prayers and support of everyone and stated that his colleagues in government did a good job in running the affairs of the island during his absence. He spoke about how anxious he was to get back to Anguilla after the operation. “I am glad to be back home. I am doing very well,” he stated.

Reflecting on the seriousness of his past condition, the Chief Minister said that with the help of his donor he had decided to begin a kidney awareness programme in St. Maarten, Anguilla, St. Kitts and Nevis. It will be “to let people know how important their kidneys are and that they must take care of them,” he explained.

Ms Williams, his kidney donor, told her listeners: “Thank you for your warm welcome. I am happy to be here and I appreciate it very much. First of all, I would like to thank God who has given me the strength to do what I have done to help my family and I also thank the people of Anguilla for all your relentless prayers for Osbourne and myself through this procedure. It was not an easy road. It was a very long and sometimes tiresome road for us but I am happy that we can stand here today to give God the glory and the praise that we are alive and doing well.”

She continued: “By profession I am a Dialysis Registered Nurse and I have always been well aware of what is going on with dialysis having worked at the St.Maarten Medical Centre for 14 and a half years. When I first learnt of my cousin’s kidney failure, I came over to Anguilla right away to give him my support and to explain the possibilities of what he could do and I tried to encourage and help him… I said dialysis was only a treatment. I do not want you to be dependent on a dialysis machine for the rest of your life and I discussed with him a kidney transplant.

“I said please consider having a kidney transplant and I was so happy I had the background knowledge and was able to explain the procedure to him…I did not know at that time that I was going to be a donor but I offered. I told him that if you had a list of donors, put me on your list and I would like to help you. From then on to now I had been to the United States several times. It has been a long and trying road with a lot of testing. In America the doctors would not touch you if they don’t think that you are a good candidate. You have to be thoroughly screened. I am so happy that I took care of my body and was able to donate one of my kidneys to Osbourne. It was a very long procedure and it went very well…

“The doctors said my operation was a major success. They also told me that he received a very good organ because they said the minute that they put my organ into Osbourne it functioned immediately. That doesn’t really happen very often. Normally once a kidney is removed from its original place to go into another body, it takes about 12-24 hours before that kidney actually adjusts itself and then it starts functioning. It is because of your prayers that everything went so well.”

The welcome ceremony ended with those in attendance singing the chorus:

I give you thanks
For all you have done
I am so blessed
My soul has found rest;
O Lord, I give you thanks.